Behold the Child
by A.E. Venturi
Summary: When Nigel almost hits a little girl it sparks a whole new investigation. A little bit fluffy, a little bit angsty. Please R&R. Thank you!
1. Chapter 1

This is a fiction about Nigel. I was inspired to do this fic after seeing the rerun of the episode "Forget Me Not" Disclaimer: I do not and never will own any part of Crossing Jordan or anything associated. Please R&R. Flames are welcome as long as they are constructive. Thank you, A.E.Venturi.

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Nigel was riding home at midnight after a tortuously long day at the morgue. He had had plans for that evening but a pileup had taken care of that. He turned a corner and immediately had to slam on the brakes as a little girl ran out in front of his motorcycle. The bike fishtailed slightly before skidding to a stop. He hurtled off to see if the girl was all right. She lay a few feet in front of him, crumpled on the pavement. He knew he had not hit her, but still she lay, not moving. He began to feverishly examine her. Her breathing was labored and her heart was racing as though she had just run a great distance. His long fingers gently palpated her neck, checking for fractures. Finding nothing, he rolled her over carefully. She was still unmoving. He pulled his phone from his pocket and called for an ambulance.

Snapping the phone shut, he knelt down behind the girl, placing her head gently on his lap. She couldn't have been more than five or six years old. There was a small scrape on each of her knees and palms from where she fell. She looked like she was sleeping, his legs as her pillow, except for the fact that she wouldn't wake up. He felt that there was something terribly wrong with this. Five-year-olds don't just run away for no reason. He swept her shoulder-length brown hair away from her face and smoothed it behind her ears.

Despite his rather non-conformist appearances and the generalizations that people made because of it, Nigel was actually very good with children. Some of them might shy away at first because of his style but once they got over that, they warmed up to him. He became very protective of them when he knew them well, especially when there was abuse suspected. _'Which may very well be the case right now,' _he thought.

From the distance he heard sirens, getting louder by the second. He scooped her up in his arms and held her close. "Hear that, Luv? That's the ambulance coming. We're going to get you sorted out."He saw the lights before the ambulance turned the corner. It screamed to a stop just ahead of where Nigel was standing. The doors flew open and two EMTs hopped out. They ran over to Nigel and he laid the girl gently on the waiting gurney.

"What's her name?" one of the paramedics, a woman, yelled over the siren.

"I don't know. She collapsed in front of my bike." He waved his hand over to where the motorcycle was still sitting at the end of a dark skid mark. "She hasn't been conscious since she fell."

As the paramedics loaded her into the rig, Nigel ran over to his bike and moved it over into a nearby parking space. He ran back to the ambulance, and before they could shut the door, he pulled himself in.

"I'm riding with you," he said. His tone of voice left no room for argument and so he rode to Boston General with the two paramedics as they worked on the little girl. When they pulled into the ambulance bay, they were net by a nurse and a doctor who took hold of a side of the gurney to help roll it into the Emergency Room. The four wheeled her into an exam room and transferred her from gurney to bed. The EMTs went back to their rig and the doctor began her evaluation.

"Order a C-Spine, chest and pelvis films. CBC, chem-panel, lytes and tox-screen," she said to the nurse. Turning to Nigel, she asked, "Are you her father?"

He shook his head. "No. I found her. She ran out in front of me. I almost hit her."

The nurse spoke, "She's severely dehydrated. The mucus membranes are dry, her heart is still beating fast, but the BP's low, and I can't raise a vein."

The doctor went back to the girl. Even with both doctor and nurse working on her, it took a few sticks for them to get the blood drawn and an IV in. Nigel stayed close to her, holding which ever hand they were not working on. He didn't think the poor little thing would have been too crazy about being poked and prodded repeatedly and he wanted to provide as much comfort as he could.

When the two women had gotten all the blood samples, x-rays, and other tests done the nurse left to drop off the blood and the doctor turned to Nigel. "Do you want to stay with her?" Nigel nodded. "If it's not too much trouble." The kind doctor waved her hand at him as though she was waving away his words. "We'll find you a chair. I'm Dr. Vetra by the way. You know, had you not told us that you were not her father I would have sworn that you were. Sorry, I don't seem to have gotten your name."

"Dr. Nigel Townsend." They shook hands.

"You should have said that you were a doctor. I would have consulted with you," the doctor said with a smile.

Nigel shook his head. "I'm not the kind of doctor you ER docs would want to consult with. In fact, if I was your doctor, you'd be dead. I'm an ME."

"Well then, I guess not. I'll be back to check on her in a little bit. If there are any changes in her condition, come find me or one of the nurses."

"May I use this phone in here?" Nigel asked.

"Sure. Dial nine to get out." The doctor smiled again and walked out. As soon as she was gone, Nigel went over to the phone hanging on the wall and called Woody. The phone rang a few times and then Woody picked up. "Hello," he mumbled.

"Woody, it's Nigel. I need you to get down to Boston General."

"Aw, Nige. Do you know what time it is?" Woody groaned.

"As a matter of fact, I do. I've been up just as long as you have. Actually, longer. I get to the morgue a good hour before you get to the station. Just get down here, all right?"

"Yeah," Woody replied, but it was too late. He had heard the click as Nigel replaced the phone into its cradle.

Nigel went back to his place by the bed and took her hand again. He thought he felt her slightly squeeze his hand, but when it didn't happen again he dismissed it as his imagination. He felt himself nodding off but jerked awake. He wouldn't allow himself to sleep, not when the little girl could wake at any moment. To keep himself occupied he pulled a pack of cards from one of his jacket pockets and began shuffling them. About fifteen minutes later Woody slunk in.

"What's up, Nige? The nurses at the desk said to be quiet coming in here."

Nigel quickly pocketed the cards and rose from the chair one of the nurses had brought in. "She's what's up," he said and indicated the still unconscious girl. "She ran in front of me as I was going home. I almost hit her. She's been like this ever since. I suspect that there is more than meets the eye. Whichever way, you can start a search for her parents. When you find anything, let me know. Just don't bring the parents here yet."

Woody nodded. "When I know something, you'll be the first to hear about it. Hang in there." He left to find a fingerprinting kit and returned a few minutes later with a nurse. They fingerprinted the little girl and Woody left quickly to begin the search. Nigel looked down at the girl who now had blackened fingertips. The nurse had tried to get all of the ink off, but that was next to impossible to do. He went over to the small sink and wetted a paper towel. Wringing it out well he brought it back and began removing the ink from the girl's fingers. It was a small gesture, but he felt that it was all he could do for the moment.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you to all of my reviewers. I really appreciate all of your comments. Thanks especially to PuttinOnTheRitz, pryrmtns, and Raine Ishida. To all of you who are insisting on Jordan being the mother, I'm sorry but this is going in a completely different direction. The storyline is a great idea and is something that I would consider for a later piece. Now, without further chatter: Chapter Two.

About ten minutes after Woody had gone, the little girl stirred. Nigel rolled his chair closer. She stirred again and opened her eyes slightly but flashed them closed once more as they were met by the harsh florescent light coming from overhead. Nigel went over to the light switch and turned off the overhead lights, switching instead, to the dimmer light in the fixture over the sink. Sensing that the harsh lights were off, the girl opened her eyes again.

"Hey there, Luv. We were getting worried about you," Nigel said softly. The girl didn't reply. "Hang on one second. I'll be right back."

He went to the door and looked for either a doctor or a nurse in the hallway. There was a man in a lab coat at the far end of the hall, examining a set of X-rays. Nigel went to him and tapped the man on his shoulder. The little man jumped slightly and looked at Nigel rather warily.

"Can you tell me, is Dr. Vetra still on?" He asked.

"Yes. She's down at the desk, working on her charts. At least that's where I last saw her," the man said, grumpily, obviously disgruntled at having been so unthoughtfully interrupted.

Nigel took off the other way, back toward the desk to find Dr. Vetra. He came to a halt right in front of the desk and, in looking over the seated doctors and nurses, found Dr. Vetra creeping through her chart work.

"Dr. Vetra," Nigel called. "She's woken up."

That was all the doctor needed to hear. She vehemently pushed the charts away and followed him hurriedly back to where the girl's room, whereupon entering, they found her sitting up, her legs dangling over the side of the bed. When she saw Nigel, she smiled slightly and swung her legs. The doctor went to examine her but found that only one light was not sufficient.

"Sweetie, I'm going to turn on the big lights now. Want to close your eyes?" she said kindly. The girl complied without a word and Dr. Vetra flipped on the overhead lights. Opening her eyes again, the girl squinted but became accustomed to the glare and opened her eyes all the way again. The doctor pulled up the chair that Nigel had been using and sat in front of the girl. "Can you tell us your name?" Dr. Vetra asked. The girl stayed silent. "Okay, will you let me look at you to find out why you were asleep for so long?" The girl looked down and then back at Dr. Vetra. She nodded almost imperceptibly. Dr. Vetra rolled over to the box holding numerous pairs of rubber gloves and pulled two from it. Rolling back to the bed she carefully examined her small patient. She took special care to examine the eyes, looking for any sign of what had caused the little girl's collapse. Moving on, thoroughly examining the rest of the girl's body, Dr. Vetra became increasingly uneasy about the types and locations of bruises she found. Just as she was finishing, the nurse from before came in. In her hand was the results of the girl's blood work.

"As we had suspected, she has been severely dehydrated over a period of days. Otherwise, everything else checks out. Tox screen was negative," she said, handing the sheet over to Dr. Vetra.

"May I speak with the two of you?" Dr. Vetra asked.

Nigel, the nurse and Dr. Vetra stepped out into the hall. "I think this girl has been abused." Dr. Vetra said. "There are suspicious bruises on her back and legs. I'd like to document all of the bruises and see if we can collect any evidence from her."

Nigel stepped in. "I can help with that. We probably have a better lab and more technology. I could get a kit over here like nothing."

Dr. Vetra nodded. "Our lab here isn't exactly equipped to handle forensic evidence. Go ahead and get a kit over here. All the normal collection equipment."

"What about a UV camera?" Nigel asked.

"A what?" the doctor inquired.

"I've heard about those," the nurse said. "I read an article about them in a nursing journal. It's a camera with a UV filter that shows bruises that aren't apparent in normal light."

"Exactly," Nigel said. "We use them all the time. Juries love them."

"Great. You put the call in and give me a shout when they are here. In the meantime, I get to go work on some more charts," Dr. Vetra said with sarcastic glee.

Back in the exam-room Nigel called the morgue. A rather disgruntled Jordan answered.

"What are you still doing there?" Nigel asked.

"I'm on call. There was a DB found a few hours ago and I didn't really feel like going home. What are you doing calling here?"

"I need a favor."

"What kind of favor?" she asked suspiciously.

"All I need you to do is put the UV filter in with a collection kit and bring it here."

"Okay, except for one thing; where's 'here'?"

"Boston General. I'm in the ER."

"You're not in the ER yourself, right?" she asked, alarmed.

"No, no. I'll explain when you get here," he reassured her.

When Jordan arrived, Nigel led her into the room where the little girl was. Dr. Vetra saw them go in and followed. Upon seeing yet another new person, the little girl reached out for Nigel. He sat next to her and explained to her why Jordan was there. "It's okay, Luv. Jordan is a friend of mine. She came to help us find out what happened to you."

"Nigel, do you have those cards with you?" Jordan asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

"I think she might enjoy seeing some of your tricks rather than concentrating on the collection."

He nodded and pulled the cards from an inside pocket of his jacket. Jordan explained to the girl what she was going to do and the girl nodded. Nigel began shuffling the cards to begin distracting the girl and Jordan began collecting. The girl watched Nigel intently as he began a trick. He fanned the cards in front of her. "Pick one," he told her. She reached out and pulled a card from the pack. "Show it to Dr. Vetra and Jordan." She held it out excitedly to Dr. Vetra. "Put it back in the deck." He held out the deck and the girl pushed the card in. "Watch closely, Luv." Nigel looked down at the deck of cards in his hand. He twitched them slightly and asked the girl, "Did you see it jump?" She looked at him and shook her head. "Well, it did." He flipped over the card on the top of the deck and she gasped. Her card had 'jumped' from the middle to the top of the deck.

Dr. Vetra took this opportunity to see if the girl would speak. "Would you like to see another?" The girl nodded but said nothing.

Nigel picked up on what Dr. Vetra was trying to do. "You can only see another if you say yes," he told her.

The girl looked from Dr. Vetra to Nigel, pursed her lips and finally whispered, "Yes."


	3. Chapter 3

I know it has been over two years since I started this story, but I recently re-read it and fell in love again. It's been a while since I've been able to write fiction, let alone in the manner that I am used to. Long story. This is short, but I am getting back in the swing of things. Any flames will be used to roast my former English teacher.

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An hour later, Jordan had finished the evidence collection and headed back to the morgue. Dr. Vetra wanted to keep the little girl overnight for observation and Nigel elected to stay with her. It was nearly three in the morning, and Nigel was exhausted, but he couldn't sleep. His mind kept going back to the events that had unfolded that night and how the little girl's face had looked in the glare of his headlight before she had collapsed. The girl was deeply asleep in the hospital bed. She looked very small and fragile in the big bed. Nigel had pulled a chair right up next to the bed and was watching her sleep. Finally he drifted into slumber and did not wake until his phone rang at seven. He quickly muted it and stepped out into the hall so as not to wake the girl.

"What's up?"

"Hey Nige. It's Woody. I ran those prints and I got a hit from one of those Safe Kids drives. Her name is Emily Whatcott."

"That's great Woody. Got an address?"

"Yes, and Jordan and I are headed over there now to check things out."

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Woody and Jordan got out of their car in front of a decent looking apartment building. They went up to the apartment indicated on the Safe Kids form. They paused in front of the door and Jordan looked at Woody. "Do you smell that?" They tried the door and it opened easily. The two entered slowly and began to clear the apartment. When Jordan reached the kitchen, her worst fear was realized

"Woody, we got a dead body in here."

He came into the kitchen holding a photo in a pretty frame. "Looks like Emily's mother," he said, comparing the photo to the woman. "But I think we may have a problem." He handed it to Jordan. It was a picture of a happy-looking family sitting together in a park, all of them with big smiles, all four of them.


End file.
